


Road Trip

by SouthForWinter



Series: EC Week 2021 [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: EC Week 2021, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthForWinter/pseuds/SouthForWinter
Summary: For EC Week 2021. Day Four: Handcuffed Together
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Prince Charming | David Nolan
Series: EC Week 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207400
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Road Trip

Regina was livid. “I cannot  _ believe _ you could be so stupid!”

“I wasn’t planning on losing the key!” Emma defended.

“Of course you weren’t. You also had no need for handcuffing the two of us together,” Regina shot back, raising her and David’s joined arms for emphasis.

“I have to say I agree with Regina on this one,” David admitted.

“How else was I going to stop you from continuing to wander off?”

“By handcuffing her to  _ yourself _ ?” David wondered.

“How about by treating me as the adult I am and not worrying about it?” Regina said, shooting a glare at both of them. “I don’t know why you  _ insisted _ that we all come together.”

“Because Henry is my son, too,” Emma huffed. “And I know this world better than you do.”

“What she said,” Hook added awkwardly.

“And he’s  _ my  _ grandson, I wasn’t about to stay home.  _ Ow _ ,” David exclaimed when Regina tried to cross her arms in a huff.

“Snow White did,” Regina pointed out with a roll of her eyes.

“Well someone had to stay and manage the town.” David glared at her. 

Tempers were running high. Henry had managed to step into a magical trap left over from the days of Jackal and Hyde and they’d had to track down the Dragon for help. It had taken longer than they’d hoped, but eventually they’d found him in Miami. Much to everyone’s chagrin, he’d transported himself to Henry directly, leaving them all behind to find their own way back. Henry was fine, they’d been able to confirm it with a relief-filled phone call to Granny, but the Dragon hadn’t returned and they needed to get home.

A task made more difficult now that Regina and David were stuck together.

“He left us because of  _ your  _ childishness,” Regina growled at Emma. “If you hadn’t handcuffed us together--”

“Then we never would have found him! You kept sneaking off on leads that turned into deadends. And I was  _ going _ to take them off when we left here.”

“Enough!” David had already been in a foul mood when they started this journey over yet  _ another  _ fight with his wife. “Emma, how you even got these handcuffs through multiple airport securities is a mystery, but this is serious. They’re not going to let us on a plane like this, and we can’t just stroll into the nearest police station and ask for the keys.”

“Why not?” she asked half-heartedly.

Regina raised a brow sharply. “ _ Seriously? _ ”

“Alright, fine!” she threw her hands up in exasperation. “I screwed up! But it’s not like we don’t have options. We’ll just have to rent a car.”

“How long is that going to take?” David was dreading the idea.

Emma, already tapping away on her phone, grimaced. “Over twenty four hours.”

“Total, or driving time?” 

“Driving time.”

“You’ve  _ got _ to be joking.” Regina clenched her fists in order to keep from pulling painfully at the handcuffs again in her anger.

David looked nearly as upset as she did.

“Chill, I just found a rental place. Hook and I can go. We’ll come back for you guys. We can find a place to stay on the way.” 

“You’re not planning on driving straight through?” Regina wondered.

“Hook doesn’t drive well enough yet outside of Storybrooke - sorry, but you don’t,” she told him at his offended pout, “-and you two can’t very well take shifts.” She tried to ignore the twin glares she received at that. “It’s one night,” she spun, heading for the door. “...two, tops,” she added quickly, not turning back around.

Hook swallowed uncomfortably and jogged after her, not wanting to be left alone with the two very angry royals.

“I’m going to kill her,” Regina growled.

* * *

Emma and Hook were settled in a room further down the hallway and he and Regina were doing their best to go about getting ready for bed while attached at the wrists. It felt oddly domestic to be brushing their teeth side by side. When they’d finished, he waited patiently as she washed the makeup from her face with her free hand. 

“This dress is going to be terrible to sleep in,” she remarked as she rinsed the cleanser off and dried her face. Thank god she hadn’t been wearing her blazer when Emma slapped the cuffs on. 

“I’m not thrilled myself,” David told her, following her to the bed. They sat on the edge as they removed their shoes. David also pulled off his belt and Regina made him turn away as she peeled off her nylons.

When they were done, David reached to turn off the bedside lamp. With a thin strip of moonlight peeking through the small gap in the curtains, they pulled the covers back and laid side by side, awkwardly staring at the ceiling.

After a few moments, Regina let out a breath of frustration and turned onto her right side to face him. It wasn’t long before she was fidgeting and rolled back onto her back.

“Regina, what are you doing?”

“I prefer to sleep on my left side.”

“Well that’s going to be difficult,” he pointed out needlessly.

“Obviously.”

He closed his eyes, but felt her twisting again only moments later.

“Climb over me,” he finally said.

“What?”

“Get on my other side.”

“Fine, move over.”

He moved toward her and she held her breath as she straddled him, quickly pulling her other leg over so that they could move together to fully trade places. She settled on her left side, hesitating for a moment before lowering her handcuffed right hand rest fully against him.

“Can you sleep now?”

“Yes.”

It took a while for either of them to actually fall asleep, but they finally succumbed to their exhaustion.

* * *

David wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke, not really being in a position to see the alarm clock without disturbing Regina, but it had to still be early. He still felt exhausted and the light coming through the curtains was a pre-sunrise grey. He turned his head, trying to get more comfortable and found himself looking at Regina. 

She was still fast asleep, breathing softly. Her left hand was tucked up against her chin and her right had moved to his chest. He took the time in the soft light to study her features, unused to seeing her up close with no makeup and without the closed off expressions she usually wore in her waking hours.

Was this the Regina Henry had grown up with?

They’d grown something like a friendship between them over the years. He’d gone from hating her with every fiber of his being to feeling protective of her, used to her presence at family functions and events, and getting to know the more vulnerable woman behind the mask of the former Evil Queen. This, however, was new. 

She inhaled deeply and he held his breath, wondering if she was going to wake, but she sighed and moved her head to tuck her nose and mouth against the back of her hand.

After a few moments, he allowed himself to breathe again. He studied her for another minute before finally letting his eyes fall closed, and sleep claimed him once more. 

* * *

They managed to go twelve hours the next day before Emma couldn’t take it anymore. With the seven hours they’d managed the first day, they only had another six or so to go the next day, so they agreed they’d allow Emma to sleep long and they’d meet up after breakfast to head home.

David and Regina shared a quiet dinner when they’d settled into their room. They agreed to some innocuous detective show before sleep and reclined comfortably in the bed to watch. David chuckled when she insisted on figuring out the clues before the characters.

The second episode, she narrowed her eyes at him when he guessed the killer before she’d finished piecing the clues together. He shrugged when he turned out to be correct. “I  _ am _ the town sheriff.”

When it was over, they turned off the tv and lights and took their positions from the night before.

“Goodnight,” David told her as she settled in.

“Night.”

* * *

They woke in the middle of the night with Regina pressed against his side, head on his shoulder. “Sorry,” she murmured sleepily, scooting back a bit. “I think I was cold.”

“It’s okay,” he told her. “We can pull the blanket up more.” 

They had to sit up together to reach the blanket, and it took a bit of awkward maneuvering, but they managed to get it tucked up more around Regina.

“Thank you,” she looked up and met his eye. 

He had to swallow before he could reply. “No problem.” 

It was awhile before either of them managed to fall back asleep.

When they woke in the morning, neither of them mentioned the fact that Regina had moved toward him again in her sleep. They ate breakfast and chatted easily about their plans when they got back into town and before they knew it, it was time to meet Emma and Hook at the car.

* * *

They were all exhausted when they finally crossed the town line. Regina waved her hand and the handcuffs disappeared. She let out a sigh of relief as she rubbed her raw wrist.

“You okay?” David asked, rubbing his own.

She nodded. “Just a little sore.”

They met everyone at the diner, and Regina couldn’t help but notice David hovering by her side throughout their mini celebration, as they both hugged Henry, greeted everyone and ate a large dinner. She also didn’t miss the way Snow made pointed comments in his direction and he would sigh in irritation and drop his head each time. 

It seemed that whatever fight had been going on when they left had picked up right where it left off without missing a beat, despite the fact that David had just been through a trying few days.

Emma at one point caught sight of the Dragon hovering in the back hallway and went to exchange some heated words with him. She’d been the brunt of several jokes this evening when people learned the reason for the group’s delayed return.

Regina went to get a drink, David following close behind when Emma joined them looking both annoyed and confused.

“What was that about?” Regina asked, gesturing toward the back with her newly acquired glass of whiskey before taking a sip. 

“I want one of those.” Emma took a seat next to where Regina and David were standing. She looked over to see them watching her expectantly. “I don’t know. I asked him about why he just left us there.”

“And?”

“He said there was something he needed to show you.”

“ _ Me? _ ” Regina wondered.

“Uhh...both of you.”

“And?”

“And nothing. That was it. I asked him what he meant, but he wouldn’t say anything beyond that.” 

“Hmm.” Regina hummed and took another sip of her drink. The three of them stood apart from the rest of the group, observing as they sipped their drinks. 

Regina was smiling as she watched Henry chat happily with a small group of friends. It was so good to see him up and about again. 

When it started to get late, Regina asked Henry if he was ready to head home. He asked for one more hour, and after Emma promised she’d drop him off, Regina agreed. She said goodnight, pulled on her coat and left Granny’s for home. 

She’d made it only a few steps before she heard the bell on the door as it opened and closed again. She turned to find Daivd coming down the steps. “You know we’re not handcuffed to each other anymore, right?” 

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Yeah, I know.”

“So you don’t have to follow me, you’re free to do your own thing.”

“I know, I was just thinking about what the Dragon meant by trying to show us something.” 

“What’re you thinking?”

“That maybe Emma didn’t lose those keys afterall. Mind if I walk you home?”

Regina studied him for a moment. “Alright.”

She waited for him to catch up, and then they headed down the sidewalk, falling into step the way they had been for the last three days.

“So you think the Dragon left us handcuffed on purpose?”

“It’s a theory.”

“And Emma’s being teased for no reason?”

“If I’m right.”

She hummed, smiling mischievously. “Let’s not tell her.”


End file.
